A little crazier every day

Even on days when its hot outside, and at best only 'warm' inside, Fatty still loves to take his morning nap under a fleece, on a cushion covered by another fleece. Though plainly on Australia Day - when this pic was taken - it was a little too warm even for him, and he had to stick his feet out the end!! He is fruitier than a nut cake!!

Roses

The heat is really knocking the roses about a lot. But I have a flower on Julia's Rose, I do love this parchment coloured rose.



And Ashram has lots of flowers, a bit smaller than usual, but that wonderful deep old gold colour.

Duckling catch up

OK, I've been out taking photos, only 110 this afternoon... but lucky for you I've narrowed it down a bit!! LOL!!

The choc duckling is a character and a half, she (hopefully) eats from my hand, and positively charges toward me when I appear at the gate, the other 2 are not far behind.






The whole family are enjoying the pond on yet another hot day.







You can see they are feathering up fast, only 1 pin cushion tail left!!

Runners on the move

Other Runners who are thriving include Choc-O, a name I give all the chocolate Runners while waiting to think of something else!! However this Choc-O left home before that could happen, I was in hospital and some Cayugas were due to be collected, realising I couldnt be there I gave strict and detailed instructions and threatened my son with 'the wrath' if my black Runner duckling was taken instead of the 6th Cayuga baby. What happened in the end was one chocolate Runner drakeling was scooped up instead of the runt-ish Cayuga Chumbawumbah!! Chumba had such a horrible start to life, she was lucky to be alive ABOUT 10 TIMES, she is now living in the lap of luxury with Deb and Phil in Cambewarra.

No point returning Choc-O after all that travel, he is now a very happy drake at the Heronswood Estate where he has some very lovely girls to talk to and is living it large - lucky duck!! Thanks Simon.






Simon has also kept me posted on last year's Cayugas - who are doing very nicely.

Runners who have left the nest

Mel in Gundaroo bought some ducks from me, including some week old Runner ducklings from me, and had her parents collect them. They did an excellent job of raising them until they were able to deliver them to Mel and now they are growing up to be beautiful young ducks. The black is especially gorgeous - IMHO!! LOL!!

Another duck Mama who keeps me updated - Iove it!

The Ducklings 1st Visit to the Pond

The ducklings are 4 weeks old now. Yesterday was so hot that I decided to let Ariadne take them to the pond for the first time, a little ahead of schedule, but it was 40 degrees yesterday! I had let them have a bigger bowl of water, in the day pen area, but they had turned the whole thing into a giant mud pie in no time flat. So it was a completely filthy little crew that Ariadne lead down to the water, somehow more water didnt seem to get them cleaner.



It was Ariadne's first chance to have a 'proper' swim since the ducklings hatched.



It wasnt too long before the excitement got too much for her, and she splashed up a storm, crashing right through the middle of the ducklings. Luckily nobody seemed to get hurt, or even mind the dunking!!







The ducklings quickly got the hang of the game, and played it A LOT, so that most of the other pictures I took only show ducklings mostly submerged!!

Visitors

We have both Crimson Rosellas and Eastern Rosellas in our area. I have seen this Crimson parent bird and baby in the forest while walking, but today they are visiting the garden. I think the youngster is a Eastern x Crimson hybrid. I have read that there is a colony of this type of hybrid near Canberra. Very striking colours.

The Garden

The heat is knocking the roses around a bit, this morning before it got too hot I took these pics.
Ashram


Warm Wishes


Mr Lincoln

Ducklings who have left the nest

One of the nicest things is keeping up with ducklings who have gone to new homes. Lots of people promise to stay in touch, but few do - I have been really lucky with my last clutch of Swedish, whose adopting parents have kept me updated.

Sebastian in Sydney has 3 babies and they are doing well. Sam in Moruya has several older babies and they are growing nicely.

2 of the younger babies went to Janine, where they were company for a wood duck she and her daughter rescued from the road where her mother and siblings had been killed by a passing car. Cuddles (who can be seen in the 2nd pic with her 3 'bigger' duckie friends) recovered under Janine's care, but has since left home - we hope for a happy wild wood duck life. Meantime the Swedish have stayed and been joined by a Muscovey and are having a lovely time in their new home. Here are some pics :)

Ariadne's ducklings

The ducklings are really growing fast now. Rebekah (choc) is eating from my hand and is the boldest of the group.

Mary (blue duckling in the foreground) looks to be a different sort of blue from her brother, will be interesting to see what colour their feathers come through.

Their tails are all growing and they look like they have pins with fluffy tips sticking out the end!!

When I am carrying them their food, and I call out 'Are there any hungry ducklings in the house' there is a loud chorus of peeping in reply.

Cats at the Duck Hilton

We have 2 Cornish Rex cats.
Mephisto is a Lilac Silver Tabby, affectionately known as Skinny. He is a lovely boy, but not fond of being patted, (dont squirm on the perm, ya nong!) he likes to sit on my shoulder. He is asthmatic and a very picky eater.




Magneto is a blue smoke and white, affectionately known as Fatty or The Fat Man. Fatty is crazy and eats like a horse! He cant get enough attention, I've had to ban him from sitting on my shoulder - too painful!!

Rust Printing

Finally some pics of the rust printing I did the other day, these are the 'best' bits, think I will re-do the rest today.

Ariadne's ducklings

Ariadne's ducklings are growing up. These photos were taken yesterday of them eating up their greens like good kids should.

'My' 3 were 2 weeks old yesterday, and Aridane's 4 are 2 weeks today. There are definitely 3 larger ducklings, dont know if they are all the older ones or not, Joey (the darkest duckling) is one I hatched and is the biggest of the group. Luckily they are all still very cute!!

Tathra Weekend

Went to visit my parents in Tathra this weekend, I had planned to take a picture of the wharf in the full moon light... but it was full cloud cover, so no shot!!

These are red browed finches drinking at the water dish on the balcony.

Mono Printing

Finally got around to doing some mono printing yesterday. Just using block printing ink, fabric as a print surface and purchased cardboard shapes, but got some good effects, and when stitched up these might be interesting.

Also started some rust printing, will take prints once the pieces are washed and flat-ish.

Spotted Gums

At this time of the year the spotted gums are shedding their bark. Some amazing shapes, colour and sap out there in the bush this morning. Of course the light was perfect just AFTER the camera battey died!!